RPG handouts: make letters, newspapers and clues

Find a document for your next clue

Explore RPG handout templates

A key, photograph or news report can open different paths through an adventure. Inspect these previews, then explore the library to choose a starting point.

G2: online news handout for a modern RPG

Turn a fictional news page into a lead with a headline, time and witness. Adapt the G2 layout for contemporary investigations.

Burnt old Polaroid

Use an aged, burnt photograph to suggest damaged evidence; keep one recognizable detail as a lead for the players.

Key

Place a physical key in the story and connect its origin to a padlock, a missing owner or a guarded location.

Every handout template

Each template has its own page with a preview, usage ideas and steps to adapt the document to your campaign.

• App folder

  Present a folder of phone applications and use the choice of apps to suggest the owner’s habits or contacts.

• Autopsy report: a fictional forensic RPG handout

  Create an in-world forensic report with observations that move an investigation forward. Use only fictional case details.

• Bilhete: a short note handout for RPG clues

  Create a quick, readable warning or meeting note. This compact handout is useful when one instruction should drive the scene.

• Blood-stained document form

  Introduce a document form marked with blood and separate the information on the page from the circumstances of its discovery.

• Blood-stained operations form II

  Use the second stained operations form to connect an assignment with a missing operative or disputed outcome.

• Blood-stained operations form III

  Present the third stained operations form as field evidence and identify the action its writer never completed.

• Blood-stained operations form IV

  Use the fourth operations form with blood marks as interrupted paperwork; compare its orders with what actually happened.

• Blood-stained Polaroid

  Present an old photograph splashed with red liquid; let the image and the stain raise separate questions.

• Blue Insurgente credential

  Use the blue credential variant to connect a fictional faction member with a location, witness or disputed identity.

• Burnt old Polaroid

  Use an aged, burnt photograph to suggest damaged evidence; keep one recognizable detail as a lead for the players.

• Burnt Polaroid

  Introduce a burnt photograph whose surviving subject gives the group a reason to identify who destroyed the rest.

• Carta: an editable RPG letter template

  Make a letter that gives players a personal reason to investigate. Add a sender, meeting place and an original message.

• Cartão de Acesso Nivel 2
• Cartão de Acesso Nivel 4
• Chat conversation: a text message RPG handout

  Create a short fictional chat that points players toward a person, place or time in a modern RPG investigation.

• Coffee note

  Turn an ordinary note about coffee into a small clue about a routine, a meeting or someone’s unexpected absence.

• Confidential form IV

  Present a confidential form as an organizational record, revealing one instruction that conflicts with the public explanation.

• Diário: an investigation diary handout

  Write a fictional journal with dated observations, a changing interpretation and a clear lead for your RPG players.

• Documento do Insurgente: RPG credential template

  Adapt a Guilda Insurgentes credential with identification and institutional details to introduce a person or affiliation in an investigation.

• DVD no. 37

  Introduce a suspicious recording found in a garage; its numbering can suggest missing discs or an unfinished collection.

• Email inbox

  Show a fictional inbox where several subjects suggest relationships, missed warnings or an appointment worth investigating.

• FanBook linked post

  Publish a fictional FanBook post whose linked story connects a public statement to a less obvious source.

• Fictional driver’s license

  Use the McLovin-inspired license as a fictional identity prop, building a scene around an alias or doubtful credentials.

• Film clapperboard

  Introduce a clapperboard as a filming clue; connect its production details to the scene where the group found it.

• Film reel

  Place a film reel among the evidence and use its origin to lead players toward someone who can explain the footage.

• Finder profile

  Present a fictional friendship or dating profile that connects an alias to a meeting, photograph or recurring location.

• Flash tombstone

  Use the Flash-themed tombstone as a humorous prop or memorial, adapting the joke to your table’s tone.

• Fordes magazine cover

  Create a fictional business-style magazine cover that connects a public figure’s reputation to the campaign’s events.

• Fortuna identity card

  Introduce a fictional Fortuna identity document whose name, portrait or origin can connect an NPC to the investigation.

• Foundation report: fictional investigation handout

  Present a case number, observations and an unresolved anomaly in an editable report for a mystery or horror RPG.

• G2: online news handout for a modern RPG

  Turn a fictional news page into a lead with a headline, time and witness. Adapt the G2 layout for contemporary investigations.

• Gazeta do Polvo: RPG news portal template

  Use the Gazeta do Polvo news portal to present a disputed story or the public account of your campaign’s events.

• Global Geographics cover

  Frame a place or discovery as a fictional magazine feature, giving explorers a location and a question to investigate.

• Gold Insurgente credential

  Introduce the gold credential variant as a clue to its holder’s identity without assuming the color proves authority.

• Gray Insurgente credential

  Distinguish a fictional faction credential with the gray design and connect its holder to a specific encounter.

• Green Insurgente credential

  Use the green credential variant to identify a fictional faction member; explain any color meaning within your setting.

• Incoming phone call

  Introduce a call from a significant contact and decide why its timing matters to the characters’ investigation.

• Jornal 1
• Jornal da Torre
• Jujutsu student identity card

  Introduce a fictional Jujutsu school credential and connect its student to an attendance record or unexplained absence.

• Key

  Place a physical key in the story and connect its origin to a padlock, a missing owner or a guarded location.

• Letter with a cracked seal

  Introduce correspondence with a broken seal and make its possible interception part of the mystery.

• Locked phone

  Introduce a locked mobile phone as a clue; choose which visible information creates a lead without revealing the whole conversation.

• Lost everything meme

  Adapt the “lost everything, renting now” meme as an in-world joke or rumor suited to a lighthearted scene.

• Lovers’ letter

  Write a personal promise or confession whose intended recipient gives the group an emotional reason to follow the clue.

• Macabre book

  Introduce a leather-bound book with gold details as a mysterious object whose provenance matters as much as its contents.

• Mex OS desktop

  Use a fictional Mex OS computer screen to establish who used the machine and what they were trying to find.

• Monster Tower identity card

  Use the Monster Tower collaboration’s identity card to tie a named character to that fictional setting.

• N2 file

  Introduce a file from a mysterious organization, using its references to imply a wider operation beyond the current case.

• Notebook

  Collect scattered thoughts in a notebook and let a repeated detail connect otherwise unrelated entries.

• Notebook cover

  Use a notebook cover to establish ownership, purpose or a misleading first impression before revealing its contents.

• Old autopsy report

  Bring an earlier death into the investigation through an old forensic report, comparing its findings with a present case.

• Old cinema identity card

  Link a former cinema worker or visitor to an old identity card, making the venue part of the investigation.

• Old computer terminal

  Use an old computer display for an archival discovery, a forgotten command or the last trace of a previous operator.

• Old Polaroid: an annotated photograph RPG handout

  Use Polaroid Velha’s aged frame for a visual clue. The file contains images; add a text layer if you need a date or annotation.

• Old vinyl record

  Introduce an old record as a keepsake or clue; its label and history can point toward a forgotten performer.

• Open email: a modern RPG document template

  Build an email clue with a sender, subject and an actionable request for a contemporary mystery.

• Open folder: an RPG evidence file template

  Organize a fictional case around a folder, a clear case label and a short list of connected documents.

• Operations blackboard

  Set out a secret operation on a blackboard so the group can relate names, places and competing explanations.

• Operations form I

  Record a fictional operation’s objective and responsible party, giving the group a concrete name to investigate.

• Operations form II

  Use the second operations form to organize an assignment and make an overlooked detail relevant to the next scene.

• Operations form III

  Use the third operations form for a mission record and contrast the intended plan with the team’s actual movements.

• Parchment

  Present a fantasy message on parchment; a name, destination or deadline can turn the document into a concrete quest lead.

• Parchment II

  Use the second parchment design for a decree, fragment or quest instruction, giving the text an identifiable source.

• Pasta do Windersons 10
• Pasta Winderson sem Zoom
• Pulseira Hospitalar
• Purple Insurgente credential

  Present the purple credential variant and give its holder a recognizable role in the party’s investigation.

• Rabbit forum

  Present a discussion on a fictional online forum, mixing useful testimony with speculation the group must evaluate.

• Receba magazine cover

  Present a fictional magazine cover whose headline hints at an event that matters beyond the public story.

• Red book

  Use an old red book as a mysterious possession, connecting its previous owner to the discovery the party is about to make.

• Rose diary

  Frame a private account with a rose-decorated diary, contrasting its gentle appearance with the secrets written inside.

• SCP access card

  Create a fictional SCP Foundation credential that links a named agent to a restricted facility or an unexplained visit.

• Sigil note

  Introduce a brief note involving sigils; provide a contextual clue so interpreting the symbols does not halt the adventure.

• Tapas magazine cover

  Use a fictional celebrity-style cover to turn a public appearance or sensational story into an adventure lead.

• Tape cover

  Use a tape cover to suggest a recording’s supposed contents, then let the actual story challenge that label.

• Urna Eletronica
• Whastz Apple conversation

  Present an open messaging app as evidence, using a recent exchange to reveal a contact or a missing part of the timeline.

• Wiki perdia article

  Present a fictional encyclopedia entry with questionable information; let players compare its account with another source.

• Winderson 10 desktop

  Set a contemporary computer scene with Winderson 10; connect the screen’s contents to an NPC’s recent activity.

• Winderson 7 lock screen

  Use a computer lock screen as the first trace of its owner, leaving the contents of the session unresolved.

• Zapson conversation

  Stage a fictional messaging exchange with Zapson; an unfinished reply can reveal a meeting or a change of plan.

RPG handout guides, Cthulhu clues and documents

Original texts to adapt for your campaign, with explanations of what each clue does. Start with a document format or the kind of investigation you want to run.